1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a bed for use in a small room where space is at a premium. More particularly, the invention relates to an elevation bed which, when not in use, can be raised so that the floor space can be effectively used for other purposes. The invention also relates to the driving mechanism and safety features of such a bed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A fact of modern life is that there is becoming a scarcity of living space, particularly in large cities. The demand for housing has caused the housing expense of an individual to continually soar. With this increase in population density, the number of single dwellers is increasing, and the demand for one room apartments is likewise increasing. A bed occupies a large portion of the space of such small dwellings However, since a bed is needed only for nighttime sleeping hours, the floor space occupied by the bed can be said to be utilized very inefficiently. Beds are known which have been constructed to solve this problem One example is a bed that is stored by raising one end of the bed with the other end hinged on a wall or another piece of furniture. This saves space by storing the bed in a vertical position. With such a bed design, however, it is very cumbersome to lift the bed into the stored position and pull it down out of the stored position. Moreover, when the bed is attached to other furniture, relocating the furniture necessarily requires relocation of the bed. In addition, the mattress and bed clothes must be bound or stored separately or they fall off of the bed when it is raised to the stored position.
Elevation beds, capable of moving vertically with the mattress maintaining its horizontal position have been suggested. The early types have been operated manually, imposing on the user heavy daily labor. A more recent electrically operated elevation bed has a driving device, thus eliminating the labor needed to store and unstore the bed. However, such beds do not have sufficient safety features.
The present invention eliminates the problems of the prior art described above. An object of the present invention is to improve the driving mechanism of the elevation bed.
A second object of the present invention lies in the improvement of the driving mechanism for moving the bed up and down.
A third object of the invention lies in the improvement of the driving mechanism so as to permit the user to be able to recline on the bed in an incline posture.